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Full name | Richard Keith Bolton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | New Zealand | 4 June 1943|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 13 May 2024 New Zealand | (aged 80)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Position | Loose forward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Richard Keith Bolton (4 June 1943 – 13 May 2024) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer, manager, and coach who represented New Zealand. [1]
Bolton was an Auckland representative and played in one Test match for the New Zealand national rugby league team, the second Test against Australia in 1972. [2] He captained the New Zealand Māori side which won the 1975 Pacific Cup. [1] [3]
After retirement Bolton turned to coaching. He coached the New Zealand Māori side to wins in the 1986 and 1988 Pacific Cups, and also coached Waikato in 1987 and 1988. [4] [5] During this time, Bolton also served on the New Zealand Māori Rugby League board between 1983 and 1984. [3] He later served as trainer of the 1990 New Zealand Māori side. [6]
Bolton served as the manager of the New Zealand national rugby league team in 1992 and 1993 under coach Howie Tamati. [7]
In 1994, Bolton was employed by the New Zealand Rugby League as the national development officer. In this role, he is credited with establishing the national secondary schools competition. [8] He retired from this role in 1997, [9] but returned to the position in 2002 and also managed the Junior Kiwis in 2005. [10] [11] In 2009, he was the Auckland Rugby League's deputy chairman. [12]
Bolton died on 13 May 2024, at the age of 80. [13]